One Step Beyond
by rusticangelic
Summary: This is the story of Colonel Richard Wilks and his squad Tango Twelve on the day that his life changed forever. A One Shot set as a Prequel to Nowhere to Run featuring some familiar characters.


Set as a Prequel to **Nowhere to Run** , this is a story of Richard Wilks, the Squad Sergeant of Tango Twelve and father to Ollyvar Wilks.

Written as a one shot explaining the background behind Ollyvar Wilks' fateful day. Those of you who may already be acquainted with the characters from my previous works may be aware of my fondness of a certain idiotic Gear. It's been an idea I had been toying around with for a long time, actually delving into the back story of the members of Tango Twelve. Well here it is for your enjoyment, or boredom depending on what you prefer.

Those of you who haven't read my previous abomination and fancy wasting their lives reading more Original Character Gears of War Fanfiction please feel free to read Nowhere to Run for further insight to the characters in this One Shot.

 **One Step Beyond**

* * *

"Colonel Wilks, do you read me sir?"

Control shouted to me down my ear piece. My name repeated again and again, over and over. But their desperate voices diminished into nothing as I gazed down at the dreamlike scene before me.

The Gnasher was hot in my hands as I passed it from one palm to the other, toying with the trigger and the possibility. Each time I contemplated the thought I was drawn back to sound of my Corporal screaming in agony, the medic desperately attempting to patch him up. Bullets smattered the wall behind me as the remaining men in my squad held their positions and returned fire.

"Colonel Wilks?" the distant voices around me blurred into nothingness.

I held one palm up and realised there was blood on it, wet and sticky oozing along my lifeline.

I'm used to the blood, so why should this matter to me?

Because I could have prevented it from happening.

We were a diversion. A large able body squad tasked with keeping the Locust busy so the COG could hit the bastards hard when they least expected it.

We approached a cluster of derelict buildings situated in a semi circle around an old factory. The Locust were waiting for us and we just didn't know it.

I had a good squad filled with decent men, some of whom I had recruited and trained myself. They listened for my every order as I took in the scene around us, deciding on our next tactic. I turned to my Medic and closest companion, Cam Ceorl, as he waited for my response.

"We draw them inwards and lay a trap," I suggested to him, more to hear my plan spoken out loud than to hear his opinion.

My Corporal made a grunt of disapproval nearby. He'd been after an argument all day, trying to find fault in any decisions I made.

"There's enough of us sir, why don't we scout the outer buildings and position our Snipers either side? We'll be able to assess the numbers and alter our approach tactically,"

"Corporal, when you are given a Squad of your own maybe then you can make the decisions. But I am more likely to listen to Cam's suggestions before I listen to you. Do you understand?"

He nodded abruptly, "yes sir."

The rest of the squad watched us cautiously, knowing better than to come between us when we clashed. I turned to them and proposed my strategy regardless of his reservations.

"The plan," I started, opting to ignore my Corporal's nod of disdain, "we go in pairs. Scout the route as we go, pull out the Grubs and pick them off, any left we lure them into that factory and blow them sky high."

I indicated to the bomb I had carefully packed, hours earlier, into the pouch on my hip.

"Sir, I thought the whole idea of being a diversion was to keep the Locust busy for a while, not take them all out at once. We're not here to take down the entire Horde, Colonel," the niggling voice of my Corporal sounded again. He was scared, I knew that, but I didn't need him to set doubts into the minds of my squad.

"Corporal, you and Private Farr can take the rear, I don't need your negativity influencing this mission,"

"Whatever you say, sir," he nodded, somehow making the words sound like 'jackass'.

"Right, Cam with me," I urged them forward then indicated to my engineer who seemed to hesitate slightly at my demands, "Private Walden you have anything to say?"

"Sir, I was going to suggest I take point," He responded. As much respect he had in my Corporal he had more for me as his leader and it filled me with confidence to hear him back me up.

"Thank you Private, but I would rather Woods and Peterson take point, their scouting experience is second to none, I need you close,"

My point men took the lead and headed towards the buildings, the squad following behind them. We plodded confidently through the scattering of destroyed houses, our footsteps and awkward movements reverberated around us like echoes of the past.

"I don't like this," Private Farr muttered beside my Corporal, "it's too quiet."

Something shifted in the corner of my eye and as I turned to look all I could see was shadows. My heart thundered in my chest as the adrenalin surged through me. The anticipation and nervousness felt like a heady drug that I needed to quench myself of to feel the satisfaction inside me. I don't think my squad would ever understand the high it gave me.

There had to be Locust here.

Cam paused momentarily, holding a hand up to attract my attention. We had worked together long enough to understand the gut instinct of the other. He pointed silently in the direction of the shadows. I glanced quickly in time to catch something before it vanished into nothing.

Movement in the shadows.

I kept pushing my squad forward, we couldn't remain in the open if the enemy was waiting for us. We were big enough to be an easy target for anyone wanting to pick us off. We needed to get into cover.

The ground started shaking as the earth ripped apart, splitting the squad in half. I glanced back at my Corporal and the three Gears who had retreated from the fissure, their weapons raised in readiness. My attention was fixed so avidly on the emergence hole that I never expected the Locust had involved us in their trap so wholeheartedly.

Woods and Peterson let out a shout, two seconds too late as three Maulers descended upon us, their flails swinging wildly at us as they charged frantically. I watched in horror as a flail smashed into the head of one of my men, swiping it clean off his shoulders. I took a step backwards to give myself space and work out my next step of action. My Corporal and the men with him had also engaged with the emerging Locust from the hole separating us from them. Gunfire now stuttered from the buildings as the Horde materialised from the shadows.

They had been waiting for us all along.

I dropped behind cover, stunned that I had been capable of being caught short by these Grubs. I was a Colonel, I had been a soldier all my life. It was not possible for a Monster to out think me. And yet somehow they had.

Another one of my men dropped dead in front of me, his helmet crushed like a crumpled can as the Mauler threw another blow with its flail to complete the job.

I heard my Corporal directing the men beside him as they fired at the troops attacking them. He was taking this in his stride so easily it worried me that I might be growing too old for these incursions.

Cam dropped beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder and drawing me back to reality.

"Okay Richard?" he asked as he reloaded his Pistol, sliding the bullets into the chamber one at a time, before fixing me with a grimace.

"No Cam, I'm not," I admitted. The only man I could truly be honest glanced back at me, his tribal tattoos swirled over one side of his face, as he raised his eyebrows.

"What's the end game, Richard? What are we trying to achieve?" he responded, indicating the bomb in my pouch, "your plan hasn't changed. Keep with it."

I looked up, searching the area for the factory, still within our reach. We could still lure the Locust into the building, we just had to deal with them differently.

Cam leaned out of cover to fire his weapon, carefully calculating each shot to utilise his weapon to its greater advantage. I joined him, aiming my Gnasher at the general direction of the Mauler as it charged again at my men. It reeled at the impact and turned its attention to us, grunting at the effort.

A grenade detonated to the left of me, sending a blast of earth crumbling in on itself.

"Emergence Hole closed!" my Corporal yelled back over the radio, "requesting permission to flush the bastards out of the buildings."

"Negative, we need to drop back to the factory, draw the Locust in,"

"Wh.. why? Sir we're positioned perfectly flush them out, we're going to have to run through the Locust to get to you,"

"That is an order Corporal!" I barked sharper than intended, I needed to reel him in before the whole situation flew out of my control.

"You heard him," he responded back, purposefully still on the radio for effect, "we retreat to the factory."

Cam charged out of cover, nipping quickly behind the Mauler and planting a grenade on its back. He kicked it away towards the oncoming Locust and watched as it exploded into pieces.

We took that as our diversion and darted towards the other members of my squad, as they held their positions outside the factory.

"What's our next move Colonel?" Private Walden asked. I knew he was aware of the previous conversation with my Corporal, but he seemed to play obedient well enough for me to indulge him.

"Fall back to the factory, we draw the Locust in and blow them sky high,"

"Okay, sir," he nodded in confirmation, "Woods, Peterson you heard the man."

As we sprinted towards the factory I could hear gunfire coming from the remainder of my squad somewhere behind us. I trusted my Corporal to get to us, he was a fighter, he had been bred to excel in these circumstances. His squad mates would be his downfall, inferior young boys with little or no experience. This was why I needed them close. My Corporal couldn't protect them all.

I refused to look back as I propelled myself into the building through the broken window, rolling onto my side as I hit the floor. Cam and the others took their positions at the windows to cover the remainder of the squad as they approached.

I drew myself to my knees to assess the building. It was perfect.

The squad assisted one of the men through the window as two others scrabbled desperately in with him. My Corporal remained on the outside until they were safely through then followed suit. He dropped awkwardly onto his back and let out a loud grunt.

"Cam can you see to Mathiew, he's been hit bad," he growled as he sat a moment to garner his breath.

"Already on him," Cam responded as he supported the injured Gear to one side.

"Grubs have dropped back a little," Private Woods responded from the windows.

My Corporal unclipped his helmet and heaved it off his head, throwing it to one side as he angrily approached me.

"What the hell do you..." he started but his voice trailed off as he caught up with me and witnessed the inside of the factory for himself. Hidden in the shadows, huddled in fear. Staring back at us, as if we were nothing more than monsters, were almost a hundred Stranded.

"Shit." he breathed, turning slightly to me, "we can't stay here."

"I don't plan on staying longer than I have to," I responded, "I'll lay the traps draw the buggers in and blow the place up as planned."

"You're going to have to come up with a different plan. I'm sure Control would have something to say if you involved innocent humans in your suicidal mission,"

"We're a diversion remember, they won't care what methods I use,"

"Oh that's right, I forget they turn a blind eye to your... tactics," his words were intended to hurt, implying that my actions were frequently frowned upon. He was probably right, but I got the job done every time.

"You'd rather I stand in the open and try to wipe out the Grubs that way?" I nodded in the direction of my squad, "go be a good lad and take your position with the squad. At my signal we draw them inwards."

He glanced at the squad, watching as Cam unhooked the tags off another one of our men and laid him down to rest. The pair shared a look of condolement as Cam shook his head in sadness. A few years ago he would have obediently taken his place and taken another death in his stride. But today was the day he started to feel every loss like he was responsible.

"We need to radio Control, we're losing too many men," he muttered.

"Control won't answer, we're here as a diversion for as long as they need us. They will contact me when they are ready to call us back,"

"This is wrong," he admonished, standing his ground.

I felt his eyes burn into the back of my head as I started laying the charges. I unfurled a roll of wire from another pocket and started reeling it outwards to its next connection. I refused to have this argument again with him.

"You can't blow up a building with innocent humans in it. I don't care whether or not Control pretends to play dumb with your actions. I won't let it happen."

I turned to face him, his dark ebony eyes stared fiercely back at me in response. I could see him psyching himself up for the next round.

"All I see is Stranded, there is a difference," I countered sharply.

The rest of the Squad remained silent, watching as the Locust drew closer at our hesitation.

"Sir, the Grubs are on the approach again," Private Peterson reported, unsure as to whether he should be interrupting our feud.

"Return fire," I barked, "try to look like we're desperate so they are tempted to keep pushing forwards."

"But we _are_ desperate," the Corporal calmly responded, "we wouldn't be trying to blow up a building full of humans if we weren't desperate."

"This was always the plan, draw them in and blow them up," I stubbornly reiterated, wishing that Cam was nearby to help me stand my ground. He had never faltered with his faith in me.

"There are women and children in this building. The future of the human race, can't you see?"

"No Corporal, you and I are the future of the human race, not these cretins. They made their choice, we made ours,"

He stared back at me, his armoured chest plates rising and falling as he took in one angered breath after another. The cogs in his head turning as he decided his next move.

"I made no choice," he finally uttered.

"You really want to do this now, then fine," my temperament suddenly shifted. I grabbed hold of his armour and heaved him to me so I could emphasise every word to him, "Our job is to keep the Locust busy until Control are ready to call us back. Blowing this place to shreds is the only way we're going to stand a chance holding our positions."

"Find... another... way," he spat back at me, matching my ferocity.

"I do that and we all die,"

"Better that than risk killing the hundreds of innocent humans hiding in this building,"

"Stranded are not humans,"

"You detonate that bomb and neither are you," he disentangled himself from me, pushing himself away, "there is no coming back from that."

A grenade flew through the broken window over our heads, clinking as it bounced along the floor beeping as it went. Instincts drove us into cover as the blast sent a shockwave through us. Brick dust and debris blew into the air as shards of wall smashed around us. The Stranded screamed in alarm from the various levels of the building. They were like vermin, hiding in crevices until the people tasked with destroying the monsters died for them.

The squad had stopped firing for a moment as their obscured vision prevented them from picking out targets.

"Role call Tango Twelve," I barked, I could hear their coughing, unable to see through the ash in the air.

Slowly their voices emerged, listing their names to me one by one as I went through my mental checklist. I deducted the names from the Gears I already knew we had lost and realised I was missing a couple.

"Private Woods? Corporal?" I demanded.

Silence.

"Corporal?"

There was scuffling in the dust and the outline of two men emerged as the haziness started to settle.

"Ollyvar!" I shouted now, letting my emotions get the better of me.

He gave a choked cough and his voice responded, "Yeah, present,"

"Damnit Corporal, I would…"

"Woods is down sir," he interrupted tersely, "I'm not getting a response."

I picked my way through the dust and debris to find my Corporal leaning over the body of another good Gear, he was covered in grit and ash from the explosion. I watched as he started to administer CPR. His gritty hands were covered in blood from the bullet holes that had already peppered the armour of the fallen soldier. Even I could see he had long been dead before the grenade had gone off.

"Let him go Corporal, he's gone," I told him, trying to ease the sharpness of my voice for his sake.

He ignored me for a moment his fingers drawing along the bloodied armour and the bullet holes. Most Gears would have grieved for their fallen comrade and moved on to channel their anger at the Locust inflicting the pain and loss. Not my Corporal. Not today. His thunderous eyes slowly lifted upwards as he fixed aggressively upon me. His features were so reminiscent of his dead Indie mother that it scared me.

"You," he growled eventually, "you did this."

"I am not responsible for the casualties we take,"

"We should never have dropped back into this building, we should have scouted like I suggested. We had the men, we could have surrounded them from the outskirts and picked them off, not let them wipe us out one by one. The last thing we needed was to back ourselves into this dead end, but as per usual you didn't listen to me,"

"Your forget yourself, Corporal, I am your Colonel, I make the decisions around here,"

"Of course you do," He unhooked Woods' COG tag and rose to his feet, the tag hanging from his fist as he thrust it in my face, "and yet I'm the one who has to tell his pregnant wife that she's going to be raising her child alone."

I didn't rise to the bait, I knew he was desperate to push me that step further so instead I turned away from him and returned to setting my trap. He kept close on my heels, both of us so self-absorbed in our own internal battle that neither of us felt the ground shake inside the building.

The Locust roared and bellowed at one other outside as they pushed their way closer to us, the temptation of wiping us out feeding their insatiable desires for annihilation. It would be easy to draw them inside the building, they would have no clue that it was part of my plan. Their hubris would be their downfall.

Or so I thought.

A sound came from the darkness inside the building causing the Stranded to squirm and fuss. I paused to listen further. That unmistakable guttural growl that sent chills up my spine.

The Locust were inside.

At the sound of the Stranded screaming in terror my Corporal sprinted towards the shadows, Private Walden close on his heels. I held my hand out to steady the rest of the Squad, the last thing I needed was for us to lose our position. We waited in anticipation listening to the Corporal's shouts on radio.

"Get down, get down!" he bellowed.

Gunfire echoed and ricocheted around the building. Desperate screams funnelled towards us as we listened out for any indication as to what was happening in the darkness.

Then silence.

The sound of footsteps approached us and I readied my Gnasher for the inevitable. The indicator lights on their uniform revealed my two squad members. My Corporal carried an injured bleeding body of an elderly man in his arms as if he weighed no more than a small child. He laid the man carefully down against a shattered wall and ushered to a small boy, who had been clinging to the man's leg, to sit beside him. Private Walden pulled out a ration bar from his pouch and handed it to the child, whilst the Corporal carefully guided his drinking canister to the man.

My Corporal straightened up to meet me face to face, "what the hell are we doing? These people were safe before we came here and look at what we've done. We should be protecting them, not giving the Locust an excuse for target practise."

"I'm fed up of you blaming me for everything Corporal," I shouted back at him, tired of listening to his complaints, " You were trained better than to squirm at the orders given to you, no matter how much you question the tactics."

"I was trained to be a Gear, to protect humankind. Not this," he indicated to the elderly man Cam had taken to assisting, "what would it take for you to realise that you were wrong?"

I felt a switch click inside me and I turned from him, I didn't need his constant second guessing at every decision I made. I had worked my hardest to get most of my squad safely to the building. How was it my fault that the Stranded had taken to hiding inside?

I dropped to my knees to continue finishing up my trap, desperate to push my Corporal's doubts from my mind. I didn't want to do this with him, not now. I was so close to the edge that I risked losing all control.

"Colonel, why won't you answer me?" he placed a firm hand on my shoulder forcing me that one step further.

I whirled round and slammed my fist into his face, sending him staggering backwards in stupefied bewilderment. I heard the collective gasps of stunned silence from my squad as their eyes all fixed on my Corporal for a response.

I braced myself.

He had such dark eyes, as he tried to work out the motivation behind my actions. He probably even pitied me, which made me hate him all the more. He spat out blood from his mouth and wiped the drips from his nose. He shook his head calmly then glanced behind him at the injured Stranded and the silent squad.

"I'm done," he finally uttered, "I won't stand and watch this happen anymore."

"You walk away and I'll have you court-martialled, this is insubordination."

"Yeah well bring it, I'll have a few things to say in my defence,"

I felt my temper spill over as I started to fall apart. I was losing him bit by bit. Any further and I would be past the point of no return. I needed him to stop me, I needed him to make this all right again. But my arrogance thought I was better than that.

"You think that they'll listen to a single word you have to say? You are nothing more than cannon fodder you waste of space son of a whore,"

His teeth clenched as he swallowed before giving me a rather determined look and replying.

"Go fuck yourself Colonel,"

I watched him turn to take a few confident steps away from me, just as a Wretch took him suddenly from its hidden cover. It leapt at him, its sharp claws grabbed hold of his head and cleaved away at his face. Its jaws ripped downwards into his armour and its claws hacked away at his chest. His harrowing screams filled the building around us.

I hesitated as he tried to fight it off him, attempting to push it off with his useless Lancer. His cries were insufferable as the Wretch slashed him apart bit by bit. I stepped forward, lifting my Gnasher and blew the creature apart. As the Wretch dropped to the ground my Corporal fell weakly into my arms.

And I pushed him away from me.

I stepped backwards in revulsion. This wasn't a Gear this was a monstrosity, a mistake, a flawed human being. His face was torn to shreds down one side, I could see blood seeping through the flaps of his cheek. His armour had been ripped through and more blood trickled out. He needed destroying. He staggered on unsteady legs as his knees gave way and his body hit the dirt with a heavy thud. His broken COG tags followed suit.

I stepped over his writhing body as he cried out for help. Shaking my head I calmly and collectedly held the Gnasher to his temple. This atrocity needed to be eradicated, it was the only way. I had to deal with this mess myself. I took a breath and pulled the trigger.

I felt a heavy weight knock me away, jerking my arm upwards sending my shot off target. I turned to come face to face with Cam. He gave me a look I would never forget as he dropped to his knees to attend to my Corporal, pushing me backwards.

"Control this is Tango Twelve, Medic Ceorl requesting urgent medivac, man down man down!"

As I stepped away I felt myself drawn to my fallen Corporal's COG tags, strewn in a bloodied puddle. I bent down and eased the tags from the blood, my fingers drew along the lettering on the metal cog as I held it in my palm.

'Corporal Wilks, Ollyvar J.'

My son.

So here I stand pathetic and disgraced whilst my world crumbles around me. A Gnasher in hand but no temptation to fire at the Locust around us. I can hear them bellowing nearby and the responding stutter of fire from the squad close by.

Cam bellowed down the radio, "control, can you read me control?"

He was splattered in blood now, none of it his own as he desperately worked at trying to stop the bleeding. But even I could see he was losing fluids quicker than he could patch up. My son's cries had stifled into a whimper as his life slowly drained from him.

"Control, control, can you read me control? Requesting urgent medivac we have a man down!" The tone of his voice was almost pleading now as he repeated for the umpteenth time.

"Don't you fucking die," I muttered to myself as I repetitively circled him feeling the anger bubble up inside me, it was my turn to start screaming, "don't you fucking die!"

"Richard!" Cam fixed me with a look, "Enough."

I faltered, dropping to my knees, what was happening to me?

My son's words echoed inside my head.

There were people I was willing to sacrifice as long as I got the job done. My entire life had been filled with doubtful decisions, but I had always known I had done the right thing. My job was to push the boundaries in order for the human species to survive so how did I not know that enough was enough. I was willing to sacrifice my only son to complete my mission, to end his miserable life before anyone could question why.

And I was wrong.

I had made a mistake being here and my entire squad knew it. I should have listened to him instead of being blinded by my own hubris. I thought I was unbeatable. I had never figured my son into my own downfall.

"If you can read me Control, we need urgent medical assistance ASAP," Cam's voice had become a hoarse croak now.

I watched as my son reached out to take Cam's hand, scrabbling weakly for some kind of security as he felt his life slip slowly away. Cam pulled him to his lap, cradling his destroyed body close to him.

"It's okay Olly, I'm here for you. Just hang in there," he whispered, running a careful hand through his hair, "help will be coming."

Empty words. I knew Control wouldn't arrive in time and it was down to my foolish insistence to keep them away. My son was going to die at my hands.

I glanced down at my bloodied palms, one still clutched at my son's COG tags and the other my Gnasher. I lifted it to stare at it as if it was a revelation. My trusted weapon had been through so much with me, the scratches along the barrel reminded me of the history I had been so proud. My reputation had been everything.

I angled the muzzle to stare down the barrel, running my fingers along it as if it alone could solve all my problem. The answer was easy and right in front of me. My escape from accepting the inevitable. I just needed to make the decision that would take us that one step further over the line that I knew they couldn't possibly follow.

Cam glanced up for a moment, catching sight of me, his brow now furrowed in concern.

"Richard?" his voice filled with a fear I had never heard before, "whatever you're thinking... don't."

Somewhere in the distance Control echoed in my earpiece but I heard none of it, "Colonel Wilks, do you read? Medivac is on route, hold your position. Sir do you read me?"

I looked down at the tattered shreds of my son as his head was cradled on Cam's lap. If he even survived he would never be the same again. This was not what I wanted for him.

"Cam," I addressed my old friend, "forgive me."

Even his shouts dissipated into nothingness as I angled the barrel upwards into my mouth and pulled the trigger...

...And stepped over the line into darkness.


End file.
